Korean Air Renewing Israel Line

Korean Air will renew its flights to Israel starting this September, after a 10-year intermission, operating three weekly commercial flights between Seoul and Ben-Gurion. Representatives of the two countries met to discuss the plans at Ben-Gurion airport yesterday. According to the plan, flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The tourism ministry welcomed the expected renewal of flights, saying that the move would contribute to the increase of traffic between Israel and Eastern Asian destinations.

"Israel is once again becoming at attractive destination for East Asians," sources in the ministry said yesterday, adding that according to projections, one-quarter of all outgoing tourism in the world will come from these countries by 2020.

The ministry expects that 30,000 Korean tourists will visit Israel by the end of the year, and this number is expected to double within a few years with the operation of the new route. Israel enjoys tourism from other East Asian countries, including China, India, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as the Philippines, which has a large Christian population.

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